Storytime with Raggedy Auntie: Best Friends

I'm so excited to read one of my favorite books today. It's called It's Nice to Have a Special Friend and it's all about the different things friends do in different weather. And guess what? This episode is also full of pictures of you, my sweet friends, with YOUR best friends! And I have an extra story to tell you about my best friend...

My best friend Jamie and I have been best friends for almost 20 years. Can you believe that? We met in college when we were both studying theatre. My friend Alexis introduced us. Jamie and I loved to be in plays together and spend time in the amazing city of New Orleans. We also loved to go on adventures in my truck named Lulabelle.

Jamie and I worked very hard at school. It was a lot of fun - we love theatre - and we got pretty good at what we were doing! One day, we were walking through the theatre and Jamie fell down. I couldn't figure out why, but I soon realized that she was hurt. (She does like to pick on me because at first I was confused and reacted like it was ridiculous that she fell. It wasn't!) Our friend Rusty came and rescued Jamie and guess what? Her ankle was broken.

For the next couple of months, Jamie stayed with me on campus a lot. I gave her rides places and made sure she could get to class on her crutches. In return for these favors, Jamie helped me write papers and organize all of my books and classwork. When she finally got her cast off, we picked up on our adventures.

What I learned from Jamie's broken ankle was this:

We all have something to offer a relationship when we show our true selves!

Jamie could have pretended like everything was okay or tried to do everything by herself. Instead, she asked for help and offered help where she knew I needed a hand. Showing our true selves can sometimes be uncomfortable, and that is okay. This process is called "vulnerability." Best friends teach us that it is okay to have difficulty and pain, because they will help us work through it and support us where they can!

Hey, Jamie, if you're reading this, thank you for being my best friend.